Batting practice cage



Oct. 17, 1933. s. F. KELLIHER BATTING PRACTICE CAGE Filed Jan. 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENT OR 2% WITNESSES Sevoyff )Ce ZZLher- BY W ATTORN EYS Oct. 17, 1933. s. F. KELLIHER BATTING PRACTICE-CAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 25, 1932 ATTORN EYS Patented Oct. 17,1933 r I v 1 931 381 SjT BATTING PRACTICE CAGE Sevoy F. Kelliher, New CanaanfConn.

Application Januaryi25, 1932. Serial "No. 588,699

8. Claims. (01. 273 -26) An object of-the invention isto provide abat- Figure 10 is a perspective View. illustratingja ting practice cage which may be .used'without a bottom member for use in connectionwithithei pitcher and with which-the batter may practice extension at an end of the cage, and hitting balls traveling in various directions and Figure 11 is'a View illustrating. themanner in at various'speeds. i which the bottom at the extension maybe tilted 60 Another object of the invention is to provide outwardly and upwardlyto direct. upwardly a a batting practice cage-open at. opposite-ends, ball which rollsalong the bottom of .the cage. which :permits two ball players; each with a bat, By referring ,to the drawings, and. particularly to position themselves,-.onev ateach endot the Figure 1, it will be seen thatthe batting practice cage and. bat a ball to and from each other cage 15 has a plurality of spaced-apart longithrough the cage. 1 V tudinally extending members 16 formingthe sides Still anotherzobject oftheinvention is to proof the batting practicecageandalso a-plurality vide a resilient member. for: closing one end. of of longitudinally extending membersl'l forming the cage, so thatone player. mayuse the cage by the top of the cage. Thesernembers 16=and 17 15 batting a ball through thecage to the. resilient are preferably heavy wires or rods andareheld 70 member, when it isrreturned by; the action of the spaced apart and in position by members .l8,.the resilient member on the ball. members 18 having feet 18' whichmay penetrate A: further object' ofthe invention is .t0.prothe ground; the members 18,extending upwardly vide detachable extensions which maybe-secured at the outer. sides of the members 16 .and'across to the ends of 'the cage, the extensions. having the top-ofthecage atthe outer sidesof themern- 7 wider openings than the :ends of the cage and bers 17. The members lfi: and .17 arefsecured to permittingtheplayer-tomakealonger andwider the members ls-wpreferably by welding It:will swing at the ball .thanwwould .be the case .if the be seen by referring toFigure 3 of the drawings playerstood attheendofthecage instead of at that the members- 18 are curved. outwardly be the end ofthe extension. tween the members 16 and 17, and these members 0 v The invention also-includes a bottom-member 16 and 17 are disposed relatively close together, which may be disposed Lat. anenduofthe'cage to so that a ball cannot pass betweenthesaid memdi-reizt upwardly a. ba1l'-which. may travel along bers 16 and 17. r r the bottom of the cage. in .the direction of th The members 18 extend outwardly between the 30 said endof-the cage. I 7 members 16 and-17 respectively, .so. that aball 5 Additional objects of theinventionwill appear batted through the cage, should itstrike thetop in the following specification in .whichthenreor sides .of the cage, will travelalong the members. ferrediorm of. the invention .is described. 16 and 17 and will not contact with the members In.-.the drawings. similar reference characters 18, which would alterthe speedof the ball passing referto similar parts in:al1-the views, of. which through the .cage.. As will be seen by referring ,to Q0 Figure 1 is a perspective view illustratingthe Figurelof the drawings, the memberslfiiateither batting-.practicecage andshowing the manner end of the cage diverge laterally relatively to in which .the cage is-used, the members at theother side of the cage. The F'igure 2 is-an enlarged fragmentary sectional members 17 also extend upwardly and'outwardly,

40 view showing-oneend of the cage.- so that the openings atthe ends of the cage are Figure. 3. is a sectional view. onthe line 3-3 flared. There are cla p members 19 at the of Figure .2, ends of the cage and these clamping members 19 Figure! isa-side'elevation of thecage illusserve to secure a pad or cushioning member 20 trating thev extension atone end of'the cage: and around eachend of the cage, so t aU y 45 the resilient member closing the other-end. ofthe beno danger of .injury to the batter bythe hands cage, of .thebatter striking theends. of the cage.

Figure-51s a side elevation illustratingthecage Thebottom of the cage is preferably, madev withtwo extensions,-one at-each end of the cage, separately to permit of adjustment, the bottom Figure 6 is aplan view otFigure 5, I having longitudinally extending members 21 50 Figure 7 is a-fragmentary perspective view 11- which are held relativelyto each other and spaced lustrating thexbottom. at one end of..the cage, apart by transverse members 22, the transverse Figures 8 and Sam fragmentary sectional views members 22 being bent'downwardly between the illustrating the means for securing the exten members 21 andthe saidtransverse members 22 sionsiand the resilient member at an end of the having depending terminals 23, whichmay be dis.- 55 cage, posed in the ground to hold the bottom of the 7 of the cage.

cage in the desired position relatively to the body As will be seen by again referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the ends 20 of the bottom of the cage extend downwardly and outwardly at the open ends of the cage.

With the construction which has been described, two ball players may position themselves, one at each end of the cage, each with a bat, and may bat a ball back and forth through the cage to each other. When the batter at one end of the cage strikes the ball, the ball will travel through 'the cage and out-of the other end of the cage,

where it may be hit by the other player, who will return the ball to the player who first batted the ball.

By referring to Figure 4 of'the drawings, it will be seen that the pad or cushioning member 20 at one end of the cage may be removed by feeding the pad or cushioningmember from the clamping members 19, and the clamping members may then be employed to close the saidend of the cage by means'of an end member 24 having a body 25 at its outer side and a resilient member 26 at its inner side. As stated, this end member 24 will be secured by clamps, such as are shown in Figure 9 of the drawings, the end member 24 preferably having openings through which the said clamps will be disposed. This end member 24 also has a rearwardly extending leg 27 which serves to brace the end member and assist in holding the end member'in position. With this form of the invention, the cage may be used by a single player, who will hat a ball through the cage, the ball striking the resilient member 26 and returning into the cage to be batted again by the player.

In certain cases it is important that the batter have practice at long swings at a balland to provide for this, the batting practice cage is provided with end extensions 28 which are constructed in the manner set forth with reference to the top and sides of the cage, the end extensions 28 at their upper portions extending outwardly and upwardly, asshown at 29, one side 30 of the end extensions being flared and the other side of the end extensions being substantially parallel with the side line of the body of the cage. When this end extension is used, the batter, if he is'a left-handed batter, will stand adjacent the side 31 of the end extension to bat the ball as it passes from the extension of the cage, the side 31 of the extension being preferably protected by a pad or cushioning member 32. If the batter is a righthanded batter, another arrangement of the end extension 28 will be provided and the batter will stand adjacent the side 33 of the end extension which is substantially parallel with the side line of the body of the cage, the side 33 being provided with a'pad or cushioning member 35 and the opposite side 34 being flared. To form a continuation of the bottom of the cage at the end extension 28, a bottom member 36 is provided, the said bottom'member 36 being constructedin the manner set forth with'reference to the bottom member 21 and having legs 37 at its inner end which maybe disposed in the ground tchold the bottom member 36 to form a continuation of the bottom of the cage. This bottom member, as shown in Figure 10 of the drawings, extends downwardly and outwardly, but, as will be seen by referring to Figure 11, an end extension bottom member 36 may be provided which will extend outwardly and upwardly to direct upwardly the ball, which may be traveling along the bottom of the cage, to a position where it may be batted each other.

by the player. This end extension bottom member 36 will have legs 39 to support its outer end above the ground. It will be seen that the end extension bottoms, as shown in Figures 10 and 11 of the drawings, have their sides diverging outwardly.

When the. end extensions 28 are used, the clamps 40, shown in Figure 8 of the drawings, will be employed to clamp the end extensions to the body of, the cage, but clamps 41, shown in Fi ure 9 .of the drawings, will preferably be used to clamp the pad or cushioning member 20 to the outer end or the body of the cage and these clamps 41 may also be used-,'as has-been described, to secure the end member 24 to a part of the cage.

What is claimed is; A

1. An' elongated batting practice cage having sides, a top and a bottom and being open at its ends to permit two batters to stand one at each open end of the cage to bat a ball through the cage to and from each other. 7 2. An elongated batting practice cage-havin open flared ends at which batters may stand to bat a ball through the cage to and from each other.

3. An 5 elongated batting practice cage having open ends at which batters may stand to bat a' ball through the cageto and from each other, and an approximately straight bottom through the body of the cage having an end extending outwardly and upwardly for directing upwardly a ball'passing alongthe bottom of the cage.

4. An elongated batting practice cage having sides, a top and a bottom, meansto'support the cage with its bottom disposed above the'ground,

the cage having open ends at which batters may the cage having open ends at which batters may stand to bat a ball through the cage to and from and forming continuations of the bottom of the.

cage. a

'7. An elongated batting practice cage having sides, a bottom straight longitudinally of the cage and a top, extension members at the ends of the cage and secured thereto, the extension members having tops and sides with a side of each exten-' sion member flared relatively to its opposite side,

and extension bottom members between the sides of'the extension members and forming continuations of the bottom of the cage. I I

8. An elongated batting practice cage having sides anda top and feet for engaging the ground, an} elongated bottom member for the cage disposed in the cage and having feet which support the bottom member in the cage above the ground, the cage having open ends at which batters may stand to bat a ball through the cage to and from SEVOY F. KELLIHER. 

